The present invention relates to the field of telecommunications, and, more particularly, to methods, systems, and computer program products for provisioning telecommunication services.
When telecommunication services, e.g., T1 voice circuits, T1 data circuits, frame relay services, etc., are provisioned between customer premise equipment (CPE) demaracation points, which typically reside in a wiring closet in or near a subscriber's physical location, and a network access device (NAD) termination point, which typically resides in a remote terminal (RT) and/or in a central office (CO), there is typically an explicit, predetermined, one-to-one association between a given physical facility at the RT/CO and the subscriber's CPE interface. This association is typically inflexible. This inflexibility is problematic in that any re-cabling that is performed as a result of equipment failure and/or subscriber CPE relocation may introduce errors where service is unexpectedly interrupted. Correcting these errors is costly and/or time consuming. The inflexible association may also complicate initial service activation. For example, even though a bank of connections may be present in the CPE (e.g., to service a floor of a building) and are connected back to the CO/RT, the specific cable for a given subscriber's CPE must be known so that the correct association is assured.
Moreover, operation costs, such as installation, maintenance, troubleshooting, and/or repair, often account for most of the cost of a network over its lifetime. Typically, whenever there is a change in service to a customer/subscriber, such as activating a new service, relocating an existing service, and/or reactivating an existing service after an outage, a technician may take extra care to ensure that a complex chain of connectivity is established. In particular, the technician may ensure that elements at the central office (CO), intervening cable segments, repeaters, etc., and a demarcation device at the customer premises are precisely matched to provide service. It is desirable, therefore, to streamline service provisioning operations to lower operational costs and improve business efficiency.